7 Easy Newlywed Recipes
Simple. Delicious. The Beginning of a Beautiful Kitchen Story.
The first kitchen you share together is a special place. It is where you figure out who does the chopping and who stirs the sauce. Where you discover that one of you puts too much salt in everything and the other cannot function without garlic.
These 7 recipes are built for that kitchen. They are easy enough for beginners, impressive enough to feel special, and delicious enough to want to make again and again. No complicated techniques. No long ingredient lists. Just good food, simply made, for two people just starting out.
One-Pan Lemon Garlic Chicken and Potatoes
Prep: 15 min | Cook: 40 min | Serves: 2–4 | Difficulty: Very Easy
This is the recipe that gets made on repeat in every new household. Golden chicken thighs and crispy potatoes roasted together on one pan with garlic, lemon, and herbs. Minimal washing up. Maximum flavor. The pan does all the work while you pour two glasses of wine and enjoy not having to do very much at all.
Ingredients
- 4 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
- 500g baby potatoes, halved
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- Juice and zest of 2 lemons
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- Salt and cracked black pepper
- Fresh flat-leaf parsley and lemon wedges to serve
Instructions
Preheat oven to 210°C (410°F). Toss halved baby potatoes with half the olive oil, salt, pepper, and a pinch of smoked paprika. Spread across a large baking tray in a single layer.
Mix remaining olive oil with garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, oregano, thyme, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. Rub this mixture all over each chicken thigh, getting underneath the skin as well.
Place chicken thighs skin-side up on top of the potatoes. Everything goes on one tray together.
Roast for 38 to 42 minutes until the chicken skin is deeply golden and crackling and the potatoes are tender and caramelized at the edges. Scatter fresh parsley over the top and serve with lemon wedges.
Pro Tip: Rubbing the marinade underneath the skin as well as over it makes a significant difference. The skin acts as a barrier and seasoning applied only to the surface stays on the outside.
Creamy Tuscan Pasta
Prep: 10 min | Cook: 20 min | Serves: 2 | Difficulty: Very Easy
Rich, creamy, deeply savory pasta in a sauce of sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, spinach, and Parmesan that takes 20 minutes from start to finish and tastes like something from a restaurant. This is the weeknight pasta that becomes the go-to for every occasion — dinner for two, dinner for guests, dinner for when you just need something wonderful fast.
Ingredients
- 200g penne or rigatoni
- ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, roughly chopped
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 1 tbsp olive oil (use the oil from the sun-dried tomato jar)
- ½ cup pasta cooking water, reserved
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- Salt and cracked black pepper
- Extra Parmesan and fresh basil to serve
Instructions
Cook pasta in a large pot of heavily salted boiling water until just al dente. Reserve half a cup of the starchy pasta cooking water before draining.
Heat sun-dried tomato oil in a wide skillet over medium heat. Cook garlic for 1 to 2 minutes until golden and fragrant. Add sun-dried tomatoes and Italian seasoning and cook 1 more minute.
Pour in cream and bring to a gentle simmer. Add Parmesan and stir until melted and smooth into a silky sauce. Add spinach and stir until just wilted.
Add drained pasta and toss to coat. Add splashes of reserved pasta water to loosen the sauce to a consistency that coats every piece of pasta beautifully.
Season generously. Serve with extra Parmesan and fresh basil.
Pro Tip: The oil from the sun-dried tomato jar is far more flavorful than plain olive oil. Use it to start the sauce and the entire dish picks up a deeper, more complex tomato and herb character from the very first step.
Honey Garlic Salmon with Steamed Rice
Prep: 10 min | Cook: 15 min | Serves: 2 | Difficulty: Very Easy
This is the salmon recipe that makes people think you know exactly what you are doing in the kitchen. Pan-seared salmon glazed in a sticky honey garlic sauce that caramelizes beautifully in the pan. Ready in 15 minutes. Genuinely impressive. And completely foolproof once you know the technique.
Ingredients
- 2 salmon fillets, skin on
- 3 tbsp honey
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp neutral oil for the pan
- Salt and cracked black pepper
- Steamed jasmine rice, sliced spring onions, and sesame seeds to serve
Instructions
Pat salmon fillets completely dry with paper towels. Season both sides with salt and cracked black pepper. Dry fish sears beautifully. Wet fish steams and sticks.
Mix honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil together in a small bowl.
Heat neutral oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Place salmon skin-side down and cook without moving for 4 minutes until the skin is golden and crispy. Flip carefully and cook for 2 more minutes.
Add butter and garlic to the pan around the salmon. Let the butter foam and the garlic sizzle for 30 seconds. Pour the honey soy mixture over the salmon. Let it bubble and caramelize around the fish for 1 to 2 minutes, spooning it over the salmon continuously.
Serve over steamed jasmine rice with spring onions and sesame seeds.
Pro Tip: Cook the salmon skin-side down first and leave it completely alone for the full 4 minutes. Moving it early tears the skin and it will stick to the pan. The salmon releases naturally once a proper crust has formed.
Easy Chicken Stir-Fry
Prep: 15 min | Cook: 15 min | Serves: 2 | Difficulty: Easy
A quick, bold, colorful stir-fry of tender chicken and crisp vegetables in a savory sauce that takes 15 minutes and tastes better than any takeaway version. This is the recipe that teaches you how a hot wok and a good sauce can transform simple ingredients into something genuinely exciting for dinner.
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts, sliced thinly against the grain
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 cup broccoli florets, blanched for 90 seconds
- 1 cup snap peas
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
- 1 tbsp neutral oil
- Steamed rice or noodles to serve
- Sesame seeds and spring onions to garnish
- For the sauce: 3 tbsp soy sauce + 1 tbsp oyster sauce + 1 tbsp honey + 1 tsp sesame oil + 1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 2 tbsp cold water
Instructions
Whisk all sauce ingredients together and set aside before you start cooking. A stir-fry moves fast. Having everything ready before the heat goes on is the most important habit you can build.
Heat oil in a wok or large skillet over the highest possible heat until smoking. Add chicken in a single layer without crowding. Cook without moving for 60 seconds then toss for another 60 seconds until golden and just cooked through. Remove and set aside.
Add garlic and ginger to the hot wok and cook 30 seconds. Add bell pepper and snap peas and toss on high heat for 2 minutes. Add broccoli and toss 1 more minute.
Return chicken to the wok. Pour sauce over everything and toss vigorously for 1 minute until the sauce thickens and coats every piece in a glossy glaze.
Serve over rice or noodles with sesame seeds and spring onions.
Pro Tip: Prepare everything before the heat goes on. Chop the vegetables. Mix the sauce. Slice the chicken. A stir-fry cooks in minutes and there is no time to search for a spoon or measure soy sauce once the wok is screaming hot.
Garlic Butter Shrimp Tacos
Prep: 15 min | Cook: 10 min | Serves: 2 | Difficulty: Very Easy
Fast, fun, and completely delicious. Juicy shrimp cooked in a sizzling garlic butter sauce tucked into warm tortillas with creamy avocado, fresh salsa, and a squeeze of lime. Taco night for two is always a good idea and this version takes less than 25 minutes from fridge to table.
Ingredients
- 300g large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 4 small flour or corn tortillas, warmed
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp cumin
- Juice of 1 lime
- Salt and cracked black pepper
- 1 ripe avocado, sliced or mashed with lime juice and salt
- For the quick salsa: 2 ripe tomatoes, finely diced + ½ red onion, finely diced + fresh cilantro + juice of 1 lime + ½ jalapeño, finely diced + salt
- Shredded iceberg lettuce and extra lime wedges to serve
Instructions
Make the salsa first by combining tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, lime juice, jalapeño, and salt in a bowl. Toss well and set aside for at least 10 minutes. The resting time allows the flavors to come together and the tomatoes to soften slightly into a proper salsa rather than just chopped vegetables.
Season shrimp with smoked paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat evenly.
Heat butter in a large skillet over high heat until foaming. Add garlic and sizzle for 30 seconds. Add shrimp in a single layer. Cook for 60 to 90 seconds per side until pink and curled. Squeeze half the lime juice over the shrimp at the very end and toss.
Warm tortillas directly over a gas flame for 20 seconds per side until lightly charred.
Build tacos with a smear of avocado, shredded lettuce, a few shrimp, and a generous spoonful of fresh salsa. Finish with a squeeze of lime.
Pro Tip: Make the salsa before everything else and let it sit while you cook. Fresh salsa made and eaten immediately tastes sharp and raw. Ten minutes of resting allows the salt to draw out the tomato juices and the lime to mellow the onion into something balanced, bright, and genuinely delicious.
